Energy Sources of the Future
Other Renewable Energy Sources
Today’s generation is much more technologically advanced. Therefore, we have the facilities for researching and testing renewable energy sources of many kinds. Since we are facing massive garbage management problems, we should be focusing our energies on turning wastes into fuel.
But why should we choose waste fuels? The reasons are simple. With waste fuel as a renewable energy, we can now make use of garbage that is accumulated by each and every single household in America. There would be no problem with supply since each household discards waste daily.
With waste fuels we may be able to minimize the costs of producing electricity. Because we are harnessing products that are simply loaded in trucks, there will be no increase for the need to mine and use coal and other fossil fuels. Renewable energy sources like waste fuels are the obvious answer to the increasing prices of gas and petroleum. At the same time renewable waste energy will allow us to power our homes without producing a lot of harmful greenhouse gas byproducts.
However, while we are still developing better technology for waste fuels, there are other renewable resources that we can tap into. Homes and buildings can be equipped with solar panels. These solar panels can collect energy which in turn can be used to provide water as well as power for heating and cooling systems.
Wind turbines are also gaining popularity. In coastal or elevated areas where there are strong winds, power turbines can be installed so that the wind can be harnessed to produce electricity. Using a clean resource like the wind means wind turbines can generate power with almost no waste. Also the process does not emit any greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide or methane.
Another renewable energy source is biofuels. These are fuels derived from plants, animals, and their byproducts. Biofuels usually come in three forms – as liquid biofuel, as solid biomass, and biogas. Liquid biofuel typically comes in the form of bioalcohol or biodiesel. Bioalcohol usually refers to the use of ethanol. This bioethanol fuel is usually derived from corn and sugar cane. Bioethanol can be utilized to fuel battery cells and internal combustion engines.
In order to accommodate certain engines, bioethanol can be blended or combined with normal diesel or gasoline formulations. Biodiesel refers to the use of organic materials like coconut diesel as well as the use of plain or used vegetable cooking oil. In some cases, minor modifications to the engine may be necessary with this type of fuel. Both bioalcohol and biodiesel guarantee lower emissions of greenhouse gases and other pollutants. In fact, tests have shown that these liquid biofuels can decrease emission of carbon monoxide by almost 40%.
Solid biomass refers to those materials that can readily be burned as combustible fuel. These include sugarcane mulch, wood fuel, unused parts of field crops, and even municipal waste. The use of solid biomass systems is applicable to dairy farms where there is a huge problem with manure disposal. Through digester tanks, solid wastes can be burned and used to provide power directly to the farm.
Lastly, biogas generally comes from various wastes that are collected and fermented in order to produce methane gas. The wastes can be from sewage, paper production, animal wastes, and even waste from sugar production. To make biogas, special facilities allow the garbage to ferment. The process is biological in nature where bacteria acts on the decomposing materials and produces methane. The methane gas is contained and further processed and used as fuel gas for many power and heating application. The solid waste that is left can then be used further as organic compost. This method yields almost no negative byproduct and it all started from waste.
